Lead-stacking means



Sept. 1967 G. H. SCHWALM 3,339,755

LEAD-STACKING MEANS Filed Dec. 10, 1965 5 Sheets-Shee't 1 Sept. 5, 1967G. H. SCHWALM LEAD-STACKING MEANS 5 Sheets-Sheet Filed Dec 10, 1965 OOOO 00 o o 0 0 0 o o o.

nm mm 3 G. H. SCHWALM LEAD- Sept. 5, 1967 STACKING MEANS 5 Sheets-Sheet3 Filed Dec. 10, 1965 11 1 4 -1 r. .4 FLRI 1 United States Patent'Gfifice 3,339,755 Patented Sept. 5, 1967 3,339,755 LEAD-STACKING MEANSGlendon Henry Schwalm, Harrisburg, Pa., assignor to AMP Incorporated,Harrisburg, Pa. Filed Dec. 10, 1965, Ser. No. 512,869 5 Claims. (Cl.214-6) This invention relates to conveyers and particularly to animproved stacking device for stacking relatively long electrical leadsthat have been carried by a conveyer to a release station. The inventionis herein disclosed in conjunction with an automatic lead-making machineof the type described in the US. Patent to Andren, 3,201,848. In thedescription which follows, reference will frequently be made to theAndren patent for details of the Andren lead-making machine and thatmachine will be shown and described in the following specification onlyto the extent necessary for an understanding of the instant invention.It will be understood that where reference is made to the Andren patent,Patent No. 3,201,848 is intended. It will also be understood that theimproved stacking apparatus of the instant invention can be used inother lead-making machines or similar devices having a conveyer for longfilamentary articles which operate on principles similar to that of theAndren device.

The Andren patent discloses a lead-making machine comprising a conveyerhaving a plurality of gripping devices thereon. The ends of theindividual leads are held in these gripping devices and presented toinsulation stripping and terminal crimping mechanisms stationed besidethe conveyer. After the terminals have been crimped onto the ends of theleads, the leads are carried to a release station at which they aredischarged. The Andren machine produces leads at a relatively high rateso that it is desirable to provide for automatic stacking of the leadsat the discharge station of the conveyer. If the leads are relativelylong, say ten feet or more in length, they should be arranged in a neatand orderly bundle by the action of the machine itself at the dischargestation in order to avoid the necessity of manual sorting or arrangingof the leads. Obviously, much of the benefit of a fully automaticlead-making machine would be lost if it were necessary to resort tomanual labor to bundle or stack the finished leads produced by themachine.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide animproved stacking device for electrical leads or the like. It is afurther object to provide a lead-stacking device which neatly stacks andarranges the leads produced by an electrical lead-making machine at thedischarge station of the machine. It is a further object to provide alead-stacking device of relatively simple construction which iseffective to neatly stack finished electrical leads of varying lengthsand which does not require adjustment or change for leads of varyinglengths.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved in one embodimentwhich is adapted to be used with the lead-making machine of the Andrenpatent as briefly described above. The numerous wire grippers on themachine function as cooperating pairs, with each pair of grippersholding the ends of an individual lead and with the ends facing in acommon direction. The intermediate portion of each lead is looped on oneside of the conveyer. As the leads are carried along the conveying path,their ends are presented to the insulation stripping and crimpingstations at which insulation is stripped and terminals are secured tothe ends. The leads are released at a discharge station at which astacking device in accordance with the present invention combs them outand arranges them in a neat orderly bundle in a suitable bin orreceptacle. This combing operation is achieved by releasing one of theends of the conveyer at a location upstream from the release station sothat the one end of each lead dangles from the conveyer while the otherend is carried by one of the gripper jaws towards the release station.Immediately adjacent to the release station, but upstream therefrom,there is provided an endless chain which moves along a path extendingtransversely of the path of movement of the conveyer and away from theconveyer path. This chain has spaced-apart teeth thereon, thearrangement being such that as the gripped end of the lead is carriedover the chain, the dangling portion of the lead falls between twoadjacent teeth on the chain. As these two teeth move away from the pathof movement from the conveyer, the free end of the lead is carried outor combed in a direction away from the conveyer. Immediately adjacent tothe combing mechanism and beneath the release station of the conveyer,there is provided a suitable bin positioned such that the lead beingcombed out is located in the bin by the combined action of the combingmechanism and the gripping member during its movement towards therelease station. When the remaining gripping member arrives at therelease station, it is caused to be disengaged from the remaininggripped end of the lead which falls into a trough of the bin and ispiled neatly on top of the previously produced leads.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an automatic leadmaking machine of thegeneral type shown in the Andren Patent 3,201,848;

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the combing mechanism of the instantinvention showing its relationship to the conveyor of the lead-makingmachine;

FIGURE 3 is a schematic plan view illustrating the manner in which thecombing mechanism and the conveyer function to stack the leads in thetrough of the receiving bin;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary view taken along the lines 4-4 of FIGURE 1,this view showing a mechanism for disengaging one of the grippingmembers from the leads and for ejecting the leads from the grippingmembers; and FIGURE 5 is a view taken along the lines 5-5 of FIGURE 4.

A typical lead-making machine in accordance with the teachings of theAndren patent comprises a stationary channel-shaped beam 2 supported bya supporting structure shown in FIGURE 1. An endless chain 5 is mountedon sprockets at each end of the beam and is intermittently indexed sothat it moves along a close circuit indicated by the locations of wiregripping members 4, 6 in FIGURE 1. One of the sprockets and a portion ofthe chain are shown in FIGURE 1. It will be understood that the othersprocket is located at the right-hand end of the beam as viewed inFIGURE 1. The wire gripping members function as cooperating pairs 4, 6and are each provided with a slidable jaw 12 and a fixed jaw 14 as shownin FIGURE 5. The slidable jaws can be moved towardsthe fixed jaws togrip the individual leads as the chain moves from a loading stationgenerally indicated at 8 to discharge or release station generallyindicated at 9. It will be noted that the open side of the gripper 4 ofeach pair faces in opposite direction from the open side of the gripper6 of the pair and that the ends of an individual lead are gripped byeach pair so that these ends will be presented to suitable crimpingpresses 24 and/or other devices for performing operations on the ends ofthe wires such as in- As shown in FIGURE 5, each wire gripper comprisesa housing with which the fixed jaw is integral and in which a shankportion 18 of the slidable jaw is mounted. This shank portion projectsabove the housing and is adapted to be engaged by closing devices whichare actuated by the levers 22 identified above. Additionally, eachgripping member has a separate latch member 16 slidably mounted in thehousing which functions to latch the jaw 12 in its clamping positionrelative to the fixed jaw 14. The jaws are thus closed by depressing theshank 18 and are opened by depressing the latch member 16 as describedin detail in the Andren patent.

The driven sprocket of the conveyor chain (not shown in FIGURE 1) isintermittently turned by a shaft 30 extending from a gear box 28, thisgear box, in turn, having a suitable input shaft or belt (notspecifically shown). A main cam shaft 32 extends parallel to and beneaththe beam 2 and beneath a suitable support table 26 on which the presses24 and other wire-preparing equipment may be mounted. Suitable camsmounted on the shaft 32 intermediate its ends may be used to actuate thepresses or the stripping devices as shown in the Andren patent. This camshaft is utilized in the practice of the instant invention to actuate arelease mechanism and ejector mechanism as will be described below.

For purposes of the instant description, it can be assumed thatterminals will have been applied to the ends of the leads by the timethey reach the location on the conveyor generally indicated at 34. Theonly remaining operation to be performed is thus to discharge thefinished leads from the conveyor and stack them by means of the stackingmechanism which will now be described.

In accordance with the disclosed embodiment, a collecting bin 36 ismounted adjacent to the left-hand end of the conveyor and has a fiatupper surface 38 on its righthand side as viewed in FIGURE 1. This fiatsurface extends for a short distance beneath the conveyor and laterallyfor a substantial distance away from the conveyor. A pocket or trough40, 42, 44 is provided adjacent to the fiat surface and has one end 42located beneath the left-hand end of the conveyor. The pocket extendsaway from the conveyor but slopes downwardly and is directed generallyrightwardly, as viewed in FIGURE 1, towards its outlet 44.

Referring to FIGURE 2, an endless chain 46 is mounted on sprockets 48,50 immediately adjacent to the side of the collector bin 36 and in aplane extending normally of the upper surface of this collector bin. Thesprocket 48 is mounted on a shaft 54 which is driven by means of a belt52 extending to a pulley on the previously identified shaft 32, thedirection of rotation of the shaft 32 being such that the chain movesfrom right to left on its upper side of the FIGURE 2 and as indicated bythe arrow. Chain 46 has a plurality of spaced-apart radially projectingteeth 55 which extend above the surface 38 on the upper side of thechain and which continuously move from left to right during operation ofthe conveyor as viewed in FIGURE 1. These teeth function to comb theindividual leads outwardly and away from the conveyor during operation.

A suitable means is provided at the location 56 on the conveyor forunlatching each of the clamping devices 4 of each pair 4, 6. Thisunlatching mechanism can be substantially similar to the unlatchingmechanism described in detail below or can be of a construction similarto the unlatching mechanism shown in the Andren patent. At thisjuncture, it is sufficient to say that as the leads approach thelocation 56 on the underside of the conveyor chain, the end of each leadwhich is held in the clamping device 4 is released while the end whichis held in the clamping device 6 remains clamped during movement of thechain to the unloading station 9.

After releasing of this one end of each lead and during subsequentmovement of the associated clamping devices 6 holding the Other end ofthe lead towards the unloading station 9, the tooth on the bin 46 whichis in the process of moving away from the conveyor will move against thedangling portion of the lead and will comb the lead outwardly until muchof its length is supported on the surface 34 as shown with one leadindicated at 10 in FIGURES l and 3. During further movement of the toothtowards the sprocket 50 (i.e., during further move- -ment away from thebeam 2), the lead will be combed further until it lies in the troughwith its gripped end above the end 42 of the trough and with its freeend extending towards, and possibly beyond, the end 44 of the trough. Itis understood that with extremely long leads, the portion of each leaddelivered to the trough 40 will be neatly laid on the previouslydelivered leads while the remaining portion of the leads will extendbeyond the outlet 44 of the trough to the floor.

At the release station 9, the individual grippers 4 which are stillholding the ends of the leads are disengaged by means of a mechanismshown in FIGURES 4 and 5. This mechanism is mounted on a plate 60supported by suitable bracket means 61 extending from the table 26 andcomprises a slide bar 62 pivoted at its lower end 66 to a link 68. Link68, in turn, is pivotally connected at 70 to a lever 71 on the end ofwhich is mounted a suitable cam follower which is received in aninternal cam track of a circular cam 72 (not shown). Since the shaft 32rotates during operation, the bar 62 is continuously reciprocatedagainst the surface of the plate 60 and is guided along the path ofreciprocation by suitable gibs 64.

The bar 62 is provided with gear teeth 84 on its upper surface whichengage a pinion 86 mounted on a shaft 88. This shaft extends throughbearing blocks 90 on the plate 60 and has a cam 92 on its one end. Cam92 engages a plunger 94 which is slidably mounted in a bearing 96integral with the plate 60 and which projects as shown at 98 beyond thisbearing at its right-hand end. The plunger 94 is biased by a suitableinternal spring, which acts between the bearing block 96 and theplunger, to the left in FIGURE 5 but can be moved rightwardly by the cam92 against the biasing force of this spring. It will be apparent thatduring each cycle, the plunger 94 is moved rightwardly in FIGURE 5 andagainst the latch 16 of a gripping member 4 to release the end of thewire held by the gripping member at this station.

The lead is thus free to drop into the trough, however, in order toinsure uniform ejection, it is desirable to provide a pair of ejectorfingers 82. These fingers are actuated to move along an arcuate path bymeans of gear teeth 74 on one side of the bar 62 which engage a gear 76on the end of the shaft 78. Shaft 78 is rotatably supported at a bearingon the plate 60 and extends beyond this bearing towards the conveyorchain. The fingers 82 extend from the end of the shaft so that duringreciprocation of the rack bar 62, the fingers are oscillated and pushthe wire from between the jaws 12, 14.

While the speed of the combing teeth relative to the speed of thegripping members on the conveyor is not critical, it will be apparentthat these combing teeth must move with a speed such that the individualleads will be combed out during the interval required for movement of anindividual gripping member from the location 56 on the conveyor to thedischarge station 9. The combing teeth must thus move at a speed severaltimes the speed of the conveyor since the length of the collector bin isseveral times the distance between the location 56 and the dischargestation.

The stacking device shown has the advantage of not requiring adjustmentor change of any type for varying lengths of leads. If the leads arerelatively short, they will lie entirely in the trough-40 and will bestacked as a neat bundle in the trough so that they can be occasionallyremoved by an attendant. If the leads are relatively long, they will liein the trough with their ends projecting beyond the end 44 of the troughand can similarly be removed when the trough is full. In either case,the ends released at the release station 9 will be neatly aligned witheach other so that little or no sorting or other arranging is requiredwhen they are removed from the trough. The stacking device of theinvention is located at one end of the conveyor and does not interferein any way with the operations being carried out on the wire.

Changes in construction will occur to those skilled in the art andvarious apparently different modifications and embodiments may be madeWithout departing from the scope of the invention. The matter set forthin the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is oflered by wayof illustration only. The actual scope of the invention is intended tobe defined in the following claims when viewed in their properperspective against the prior art.

I claim:

1. In a conveyor of the type having means for gripping individualelectrical leads and carrying said leads along a conveying path to arelease station at which said leads are released, the improvementcomprising, lead-combing means movable along a path extending laterallyof the path of movement of said conveyor, said lead-combing meansintersecting said conveying path at a location adjacent to, but upstreamfrom, said release station, the speed of said combing means beingsuflicient to comb out an individual lead during the interval requiredfor transporting the end of said individual lead from said upstreamlocation to said release station whereby, said leads are combed out andstacked in an orderly arrangement at said release station.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said combing means comprisesan endless chain having spaced-apart combing teeth extending therefrom.

3. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said conveyoi' comprises anendless chain having a plurality of spaced-apart wire gripping jawsthereon, said conveying apparatus having means at said release stationfor opening said jaws.

4. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said conveying apparatus isof the type having a plurality of cooperating pairs of wire grippingjaws thereon, each pair of jaws being adapted to grip the ends of asingle lead, said conveying apparatus including means upstream from saidlocation for opening one of said jaws whereby, one end of each lead isreleased prior to combing of said lead.

5. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including a bin beneath saidrelease station, said bin having a lead-receiving pocket extendinglaterally from said path and towards said combing means whereby, saidleads are positioned in said pocket by the cooperative action of saidcombing means and said conveyor during movement of each individualgripping means from said location to said release station withconcomitant combing of said lead.

FOREIGN PATENTS 1/1954 France. 5/1960 Russia.

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

J. E. OLDS, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN A CONVEYOR OF THE TYPE HAVING MEANS FOR GRIPPING INDIVIDUALELECTRICAL LEADS AND CARRYING SAID LEADS ALONG A CONVEYING PATH TO ARELEASE STATION AT WHICH SAID LEADS ARE RELEASED, THE IMPROVEMENTCOMPRISING, LEAD-COMBINING MEANS MOVABLE ALONG A PATH EXTENDINGLATERALLY OF THE PATH OF MOVEMENT OF SAID CONVEYOR, SAID LEAD-COMBININGMEANS INTERSECTING SAID CONVEYING PATH AT A LOCATION ADJACENT TO, BUTUPSTREAM FROM, SAID RELEASE STATION, THE SPEED OF SAID COMBINING MEANSBEING SUFFICIENT TO COMB OUT AN INDIVIDUAL LEAD DURING THE INTERVALREQUIRED FOR TRANSPORTING THE END OF SAID INDIVIDUAL LEAD FROM SAIDUPSTREAM LOCATION TO SAID RELEASE STATION WHEREBY, SAID LEADS ARE COMBEDOUT AND STACKED IN AN ORDERLY ARRANGEMENT AT SAID RELEASE STATION.